Ben texted the group.

“Press into prayer right now. I shared with Adam and I think he really gets it. He’s struggling to let go and surrender. Pray hard.”

His phone pinged back with a number of praying hands emojis. Pete sent a GOAT. What a goofball.

Adam laid back on his bed. His mom wasn’t home from work yet. He opened his Bible to the verse Ben shared with him about making Jesus lord of his life.

‘…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ (Romans 10:9)

He read the next two verses,

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:10-11)

Justified. Don’t know what that means. It repeats saved. Ben said that’s what happens when Jesus is in your life. He liked the sound of that. It’s that lord word that was tripping him up. Something was nagging at him, that he would have to give up a lot of stuff if Jesus was really in charge.

So many distractions were pulling at him in this moment. He pushed the thought away.
The urge grew stronger, “You can think about this Jesus stuff better when you’re not so anxious.”

He began to put the Bible down to get his stash when his eyes focused on the phrase, “will not be put to shame.” He paused. He felt a number of things all at once. The urge to smoke was intense, but with it a strange sense that he was on display, that others were watching him. That was weird because he was certainly alone, but it sure seemed like his room was filled with people. He felt exposed. He felt frustrated because he was so tangled up. This feeling came with a longing to go back to the way he was before he began waking up. So much easier just to float.

Then he heard him for the second time, “Take my yoke. It is easy and light.” His voice came with that deeper feeling of…love…that’s what it was. He didn’t feel judged, or manipulated, or pushed. He felt accepted. Like it really didn’t matter what he did, that Jesus was there for him no matter what. Like Jesus understood the anxiety, the frustration, the urges, all of it. And it was okay.

As he opened himself to that warmth, he realized he didn’t want the weed anymore. He knew that familiar, sought after floating feeling of the ganja would push this deeper, richer, warmer sense of Jesus’ presence away. He knew what he wanted. What he wanted more than he’s ever wanted anything before. He wanted Jesus.

He reached for his phone and texted Ben, “I’m ready.”

Ben’s phone pinged. Wow. That was fast. Ben typed out, “Let’s get together.” Then he paused. He listened deeply. He added the word “tomorrow,” and sent it.

“Okay.” Came the reply.

They were meeting in the park. Adam gazed at the play structure where he had seen the dad pushing his son on the swing. He felt the warmth of the sun. The sky was so blue. Adam felt peace.

Ben walked up with his familiar, “Hey!”

Adam didn’t hesitate. “I’m ready. What do I do?”

Ben smiled. The Lord is always faithful.

“Well, you just pray.”

“What do I pray?”

“Just tell Jesus what going on. Express your need for him to be in your life and thank him for dying on the cross for you and revealing his love to you. Does that make sense”

“Yeah. It really does.”

“But before you pray, yesterday you were struggling with the whole idea about Jesus being in charge. Being saved isn’t a prize, although it is a free gift. It really means a change in how you live. When you open your heart to Jesus, you’re giving yourself to him and he gives himself to you. You’ll learn to hear his voice.”

“I’m hearing his voice!”

“I know you are. The adventure is learning to hear his voice all the time so you can do what he tells you to do. That’s how he blesses us and fixes us and uses us.”

“How does that happen? How do you learn to hear his voice?”

“Just keep meeting with us. The whole reason for us getting together is to learn to hear him and follow him more and more.”

“I get it. I’m ready. I want Jesus all the time!”

Ben grinned. “Okay. Let’s pray.”

Adam closed his eyes and began to pray. As Adam expressed his heart, Ben was silently thanking the Lord for moving in Adam’s life. He settled into that deep joy that always comes when he discovers the Lord using him. His heart swelled with love for Jesus, for Adam, for the guys in his group, for his church, for his family, for everything. God is so good!

Adam said “Amen” and opened his eyes.

“Now what?”

“Now you get to know him.”